Desert Rat 1940–43

Desert Rat 1940–43 PDF Author: Tim Moreman
Publisher: Osprey Publishing
ISBN: 9781849085014
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
Osprey's examination of the 'Desert Rats', a popular nickname used to describe first 7th Armoured Division and then all the mixed body of British Commonwealth troops - British, Australian, New Zealand and Indian - that fought against Axis forces in North Africa between 1940 and 1943. For a long period during the early years of World War II (1939-1945), this was the only theatre of war where the United Kingdom could strike back against the Axis powers, and the seesaw desert war fought out along the coast of the Mediterranean in Egypt, Libya and then Tunisia proved a harsh testing ground for British arms - in terms of organization, equipment and methods of waging war. The distinctive dress, equipment and weapons developed and carried by the Desert Rats into battle will be examined as will the expansion, organization and training of the desert army. To illustrate the distinctive combat experience gained by the Desert Rats between 1940 and 1943, three representative operations will be examined in detail - Operation Compass in 1940, the battle of Gazala in May 1942 and finally the last phase of the decisive fighting at El Alamein in October-November 1942. Accompanied by full-color illustrations, this title will shed new light on these fascinating troops.

Desert Rat 1940–43

Desert Rat 1940–43 PDF Author: Tim Moreman
Publisher: Osprey Publishing
ISBN: 9781849085014
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
Osprey's examination of the 'Desert Rats', a popular nickname used to describe first 7th Armoured Division and then all the mixed body of British Commonwealth troops - British, Australian, New Zealand and Indian - that fought against Axis forces in North Africa between 1940 and 1943. For a long period during the early years of World War II (1939-1945), this was the only theatre of war where the United Kingdom could strike back against the Axis powers, and the seesaw desert war fought out along the coast of the Mediterranean in Egypt, Libya and then Tunisia proved a harsh testing ground for British arms - in terms of organization, equipment and methods of waging war. The distinctive dress, equipment and weapons developed and carried by the Desert Rats into battle will be examined as will the expansion, organization and training of the desert army. To illustrate the distinctive combat experience gained by the Desert Rats between 1940 and 1943, three representative operations will be examined in detail - Operation Compass in 1940, the battle of Gazala in May 1942 and finally the last phase of the decisive fighting at El Alamein in October-November 1942. Accompanied by full-color illustrations, this title will shed new light on these fascinating troops.

Desert Rats

Desert Rats PDF Author: Tim Moreman
Publisher: Osprey Publishing
ISBN: 9781846031441
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
Tim Moreman examines the creation and deployment of British 8th Army, probably the most famous military formation raised by the British during World War II. Formed in September 1941 from the Western Desert Force, it went on to wage a lengthy, hard-fought campaign against German and Italian troops across the deserts of North Africa. It was composed of British and Commonwealth troops - as well as smaller numbers of French and Polish troops. Additionally, a variety of specialized elite forces came under its umbrella including the Special Air Service, Popski's Private Army and the Long Range Desert Group. This book will provide a fascinating insight into these unconventional troops who became the inspiration for today's Special Forces. It was also the first Allied army to rely on close air support; a revolutionary, war-winning tactic that would shaped combined forces strategy throughout the rest of the war. The Desert War was unlike any other fought by the British Army. The hot, dusty, and unforgiving climate and environment in which its troops lived, moved, and fought was almost as troublesome as the enemy. During its two-year period of service in North Africa, 8th Army underwent major changes in organization, equipment, and training to adapt it to the terrain. Discover the difficulties of desert warfare and how these were overcome by the 8th Army to defeat Rommel and become masters of the desert.

Hebrew Characters

Hebrew Characters PDF Author: Israel Schapiro
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Bible
Languages : en
Pages : 15

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Book Description


Long Range Desert Group Patrolman

Long Range Desert Group Patrolman PDF Author: Tim Moreman
Publisher: Osprey Publishing
ISBN: 9781846039249
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
Osprey's study of patrolmen of the Long Range Desert Group of World War II (1939-1945). Nicknamed the 'Libyan Desert Taxi Service' by the SAS, the Long Range Desert Group was tasked with strategic reconnaissance and raiding operations deep inside the enemy-held deserts of North Africa. Armed with light weapons only, and equipped with specially converted light cars and trucks capable of withstanding the harsh conditions, the LRDG quickly proved it could operate in parts of the desert which other troops, including the enemy, found impassable. This new Warrior title examines the soldiers of the LRDG from the group's formation, through training, to combat in vast, lonely, and deadly deserts of North Africa.

The Long Range Desert Group in World War II

The Long Range Desert Group in World War II PDF Author: Gavin Mortimer
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1472819349
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 258

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Book Description
A major illustrated history of the Long Range Desert Group from the foremost expert on British wartime special forces. Formed in June 1940 for the purpose of gathering intelligence behind enemy lines, the Long Range Desert Group (LRDG) played a secretive but vital role in North Africa during World War II. Highly trained in mechanized reconnaissance and specializing in desert operations, the unit provided support to the Special Air Service (SAS) in missions across the vast and treacherous terrain of the Western Desert. In this highly illustrated history of the LRDG, Gavin Mortimer reveals the origins and dramatic operations of Britain's first ever special forces unit.

World War III Team Yankee

World War III Team Yankee PDF Author: Phil Yates
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781988558158
Category : Imaginary wars and battles
Languages : en
Pages : 96

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Book Description


Love Letters from a Desert Rat

Love Letters from a Desert Rat PDF Author: Liz Macintyre
Publisher: The History Press
ISBN: 0750979356
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 420

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Book Description
When Liz Macintyre's mother died she found a collection of 300 letters from her father Alex, spanning his service in Italy and Egypt in the Second World War. His career began in 1940 sailing down the west coast of Africa, then up to Egypt, and the next few years were spent chasing Rommel and the Afrika Corps all over North Africa. By 1943 he was in mainland Italy, where he spent the rest of the war. Beautifully written, Alex's letters offer an intimate account of war from a regular ' desert rat' and cover such daily matters as football, insects and sandstorms alongside accounts of survival in the Italian mountains, escape during the retreat at Tobruk, and leave in Cairo and Palestine. Nan wrote as many letters to Alex as he wrote to her, but he had a ritual of burning the letters as he went so that he would not have to carry them with him and sadly none have survived. However, Alex's letters often answer her questions point by point so the reader can easily envisage Nan's feelings as well as following Alex's personal account of war.

Ghost Patrol

Ghost Patrol PDF Author: John Sadler
Publisher: Casemate
ISBN: 1612003370
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 321

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Book Description
From the author of D-Day: “an amazing tale of how the world’s very first special force was created specifically for North Africa during WWII” (Books Monthly). The origins of most of the West’s Special Forces can be traced back to the Long Range Desert Group, which operated across the limitless expanses of the Libyan Desert, an area the size of India, during the whole of the Desert War from 1940 to 1943. After the defeat of the Axis in North Africa, they adapted to serve in the Mediterranean, the Greek islands, Albania, Yugoslavia, and Greece. In the process, they became the stuff of legend. The brainchild of Ralph Bagnold, a prewar desert explorer featured in fictional terms in The English Patient, the LRDG used specially adapted vehicles and recruited only men of the right temperament and high levels of fitness and endurance. Their work was often dangerous, always taxing, exhausting, and uncomfortable. They were a new breed of soldier, and the Axis never managed to field a similar unit. Once the desert war was won, they transferred their skills to the Mediterranean sector, retraining as mountain guerrillas, serving in the ill-fated Dodecanese campaign, then in strife-torn Albania, Yugoslavia, and Greece, fighting alongside the mercurial partisans. In addition, the LRDG worked alongside the fledgling SAS and established, beyond all doubt, the value of highly trained Special Forces, a legacy which resonates today. “Genuinely gripping, a tale of eccentrics and their high adventures during very dangerous times.” —Classic Military Vehicle

The Long Range Desert Group in Action 1940–1943

The Long Range Desert Group in Action 1940–1943 PDF Author: Brendan O'Carroll
Publisher: Pen and Sword Military
ISBN: 1526777428
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 388

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Book Description
This first pictorial history of the LRDG “covers all aspects of [its] work and the vehicles and weapons they used in their devastating raids” (Beating Tsundoku). The Long Range Desert Group has a strong claim to the first Special Forces unit in the British Army. This superb illustrated history follows the LRDG from its July 1940 formation as the Long Range Patrol in North Africa, tasked with intelligence gathering, mapping and reconnaissance deep behind enemy lines. Manned initially by New Zealanders, in 1940 the unit became the LRDG with members drawn from British Guards and Yeomanry regiments and Rhodesians. So successful were the LRDG patrols, that when the Special Air Service was formed, it often relied on their navigational and tactical skills to achieve their missions. After victory in North Africa the LRDG relocated to Lebanon before being sent on the ill-fated mission to the Dodecanese Islands in the Aegean. Serving independently, when the Germans overwhelmed and captured the British garrisons, many LRDG personnel escaped using their well-honed skills. Many images in this, the first pictorial history of the LRDG, were taken unofficially by serving members. The result is a superb record of the LRDG’s achievements, the personalities, their weapons and vehicles which will delight laymen and specialists alike. “Well written . . . The photographs brought together here are a stunning selection despite the various quality as it shows the men and machines living the war they fought in.”—Armorama “A must-read page turner.”—Richard Gough, military author and historian “Informative and full of exciting detailed accounts of operations that occurred throughout the LRDG’s reign of terror on the Axis forces during the war.”—AMPS

The Eyes of the Desert Rats

The Eyes of the Desert Rats PDF Author: David Syrett
Publisher: Helion
ISBN: 1912174634
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 331

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Book Description
Made up of members of the Coldstream and Scots Guards, British Yeomanry cavalry regiments, New Zealanders, South Africans, and Indian Army men, the Long Range Desert Group was perhaps the most effective of all the "special forces" established by the Allies during the Second World War. It was able to go thousands of miles into enemy territory, well-armed and carrying its own supplies of petrol, food and even water to last for weeks at a time - something quite new in military history. Using experience acquired in WWI and inter-war exploration travels, the LRDG thus developed the ability to appear almost anywhere in the desert to carry out almost every type of ground reconnaissance mission possible in desert warfare, exploring and mapping the terrain, transporting agents behind enemy lines or determining the strength and location of enemy forces with an extraordinary degree of accuracy and detail and thus able to verify or hide Ultra intelligence. Equally important were their skills in the art of desert navigation, demonstrated in the outflanking of the enemy during the Allied advance from El Alamein westward to Tunisia, as led by the LRDG. Once it had teamed up with the Special Air Service (SAS), made up of British, Free French, Commonwealth and Jewish Palestinian soldiers, the LRDG perfected the art of irregular mechanized warfare conducted in the rear of the enemy's forces in the desert, attacking enemy installations of all kinds, mining roads, raiding airfields, destroying enemy aircraft on the ground and inflicting losses upon the enemy in inverse proportion to their own remarkably low rate of casualties. Through meticulous research in original archival material, this book thus tells the extraordinary story of how a relatively small number of dedicated men developed the methods and techniques for crossing by motor vehicle the depths of the then unmapped and seemingly impassable great deserts of Egypt and Libya, the Western Desert, during the British Army's North African Campaign of 1940-43. The Long Range Desert Group and the Special Air Service as a matter of course did extraordinary things - the heroic was the commonplace. Their tactics, techniques and remarkable success in desert warfare continue to make them of great interest to the student of military affairs. Likewise, as it seeks to answer how the deep desert can best be used for military purposes, this study is pertinent to today's military operations, perhaps more so than at any time since World War II. "…this study provides fresh insights into the nature of desert warfare, past, present and future… [and] reveals the peculiarities of this warfare often lost to modern armies… a virtual primer, useful to commanders and soldiers alike. At long last this book can find its rightful place in the classroom of military courses and colleges and in the hands of those interested in the intricacies, complexities and problems of military operations in desert regions". From the Foreword to the book by Colonel (Retired) David M. Glantz.